▎ 摘　　要

The role of graphene oxide (GO)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in the 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (3-APTMS)-mediated synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the presence of formaldehyde is reported. It was found that 3-APTMS-functionalized GO/rGO allowed the rapid conversion of gold cations into AuNPs in the presence of formaldehyde. Moreover, the major findings include (i) the process of nanoparticle synthesis is 3-fold faster (2-3 min) in the presence of GO as compared to that of the same process without GO (15-20 min) under similar conditions, (ii) the AuNPs prepared in the presence of GO show a relatively better stability, which is attributed to the synergistic response of oxygen functionalities on the surface of GO and the micellar behaviour of 3-APTMS, (iii) the average size of the Au-GO nanohybrids is significantly reduced to the order of 3-4 nm as compared to that of the same without GO (5-12 nm), (iv) the Au-GO nanohybrid exhibits distinguished homogeneous catalytic behaviour over AuNPs made without GO and (v) the Au-rGO nanohybrid displays heterogeneous electrocatalytic activity due to the conductive nature of rGO and allows nanocomposite formation with Prussian blue nanoparticles. The high catalytic performance of Au-GO and Au-rGO in the homogenous and heterogenous operations is a function of the structural framework of the substrates and the morphological characteristics of the nanoparticles, as evidenced by FTIR, TEM, EDS and UV-Vis analysis.